In our last blog, we gave you an insight on the roots of modern football (soccer) in Mesoamerica. Now that the Football World Cup 2014 in Brazil takes a short break after the group stage, we would like to draw a short conclusion regarding the performance of the Latin-American teams, since there is something to talk about, indeed!

For the first time in World Cup history, out of the 9 nations participating from Central- and South-America, 7 have made it to the best 16. The fact that Brazil as the host nation and record World Cup winner won their group, is not a surprise, of course. Mexico finishing second behind them, eliminating Croatia in a wonderful manner, is something to raise your sombrero to. Chile are also going strong, having defeated defending champions Spain clearly.

Argentina have one of the world’s strongest selection and probably the best player in the world (Messi), so they were expected to finish first in their group. The case of Colombia who did the same was by far not so clear, especially considering the fact that they miss their top striker Falcao due to injury. The supporters of probably the third strongest Latin-American team, Uruguay, had high hopes to survive their ‘Death Group’ with England and Italy, and so far, they cannot complain, since ‘La Celeste’ have made it to the eliminary round. They will definitely have a hard task ahead though, facing Colombia without their brilliant but undisciplined striker Luis Suarez, who has been banned from the games by the FIFA.

The biggest surprise so far has been delivered certainly by the small but enthusiastic football nation of Costa Rica. The Central-Americans managed to win the ‘Death Group’ beating Uruguay and Italy and drawing England. What is more: they have a real chance to continue their success story, since they will meet Greece in the best 16.

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